A Toronto city councillor is proposing his colleagues cut down their office expense budget by half to save some money on the city's cash-strapped operating budget.

If councillors cut down their expense budget from $53,100, to about 25,000 then the savings would total about $1.2 million a year, said Coun. Doug Holyday.

"Far too many meetings are taking place off-premises at restaurants and so on," Holyday told CTV Toronto. "That's not needed. There are fine offices here, fine offices at the civic centre. These expenditures could be avoided."

He said furthermore, some of the expenses claimed by councillors, such as mileage and restaurant bills are not properly documented on expense reports.

Holyday, who spent $3,000 of his office budget in 2007, asked council Monday to debate the idea at an upcoming budget meeting where the city's $8-billion operating budget is being scrutinized for savings.

As part of the city's plan to balance the books, councillors plan to raise property taxes 3.75 per cent.

Joe Pantalone, the city's deputy mayor said councillors spend a big chunk of their budget on newsletters and flyers to communicate with their constituents.

He said Holyday's projected savings would only be realized if every single councillor spent their entire budget, which many of them don't.

Joe Mihevc, another Toronto councillor, said he uses his budget to give back to the community.

"We have park cleanup days, environment days, compost days," he said. "Those events cost money."

Glenn de Baeremaeker, a colleague on council, agreed with Mihevc and said he works hard and his office expense budget makes that possible.

"You should do absolutely nothing? That's good for him. Let him do nothing. But I work hard in my ward."

Denzil Minnan-Wong, a conservative member of council, said councillors should take responsibility for what they spend.

"There has to be some level of flexibility," he told CTV Toronto. "The best thing councillors can do is regulate their own affairs."

Constituents will have a chance to tell city council what they think of the proposal on Tuesday when the budget committee is scheduled to hear from residents.

The committee will then review and debate the proposal on Feb. 11.

In the meantime, the city's auditor general is also reviewing the office expense budget and process. That report is due out in the spring.

With a report from Alicia Kay-Markson